THE GULAB-CHASM 81 



afford shelter only so long as they do 

 not yield to the reaper's sickle. While its 

 lioine is ruthlessly laid bare — and it often 

 fiappens that many a grassy jungle is 

 Imrnt down periodically or cut by grass- 

 cutters — it fixes its abode in a suitable 

 place in the neighbourhood, — thickets, 

 hedge-rows, furzy bushes, or low jungles. 

 Cautious and elusive, it displays a tendency 

 to wander about like typical Babblers in 

 search of localities favourable to its habits. 

 But notwithstanding its shyness and 

 extreme dislike of human observation, it 

 never retires to the depths of forests. In the 

 sun-bathed countryside through the long 

 grass or tangled reeds, so quickly and 

 cleverly does it frisk about in search of 

 insects that not a single moving blade 

 betrays its presence — only its recurring 

 chatter indicates its whereabouts. These 

 sharp and frequent ehatterings are its call- 

 notes, while its song consists of a whistle 

 with a double note, which is not without 

 volume and sweetness. 



